The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a Madison, Wisc.-based group dedicated to promoting the separation of church and state, sued the Secretary of the Treasury and the IRS over the tax code in 2009. It claims that the so-called "parsonage exemption" violates the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause as well as California state laws.
The Rev. Michael Rodgers sought to intervene as a defendant in the lawsuit on behalf of himself and unnamed ministers in California, but a federal judge denied his petition. Rodgers argued that the federal defendants would not vigorously defend the action because of their interest in increasing tax revenues, and that they would not appeal an adverse ruling. He also claimed that the federal defendants "might, in an attempt to save the parsonage exemption from being declared unconstitutional, urge the court to construe the statutes in a narrow way that would reduce the value of the exemption," the 9th Circuit summarized.
In affirming the District Court, the three-judge federal appeals panel in San Francisco found that the pastor had failed to substantiate his fears with evidence.